Chlamydomonas: features of structure and organization

For a very long time scientists could not determine the systematic position of the amazing organism, which will be discussed in our article. After all, this single-celled creature is able to actively move, while carrying out the process of photosynthesis. Yes, and its name is of interest. This is chlamydomonas.

Department of Green Seaweed

As a result of long reasoning, scientists came to the conclusion that this organism is a representative of the kingdom of the plant, since it is capable of independent synthesis of organic substances in the light and contains green plastids in the cell.

Chlamydomonas (photo shows the contents of the cell) belongs to the group of Green algae, which as a whole has up to 15 thousand species. You can meet her in small fresh water reservoirs. Most often they are well warmed up. This seaweed is not very fastidious to the purity of water, so it actively multiplies in a polluted environment.

Chlamydomonas: cell structure

Despite the fact that this alga is represented by only one cell of microscopic dimensions, it has a rather complex structure capable of carrying out all the necessary processes of vital activity.

Chlamydomonas has a cell oval, and sometimes pear-shaped. There are two flagella on its anterior margin. This organelle is a movement. The cell membrane contains pectin substances and a glycoprotein. These carbohydrates impart strength to the outer layer of the body.

Like other cells, inside there is a cytoplasm - internal semi-liquid content, giving shape and metabolizing. Most of the algae is taken by the chloroplast. It has a cup-shaped shape. Sometimes it is also called chromatophor. It is located pyrenoid - the formation of protein nature, around which nutrients are deposited. Also in the cytoplasm is a photosensitive eye - a kind of "sense organ". It is called stigma.

Functions of contractile vacuoles

Chlamydomonas is a water inhabitant. Therefore, it constantly needs to remove the fluid that enters the cell from the environment. This happens with the help of special organelles - contractile vacuoles. Why does water enter chlamydomonas? The thing is that the content of salts in a body of water is usually much higher than in the cell itself. According to the laws of physics, the liquid also comes from an area with a higher concentration to a smaller one. Those. Check pattern water plants. The contractile vacuoles relieve algae from excess fluid.

Features of cell vital activity

By the method of feeding chlamydomonas is a mixotroph. This means that in the light it is capable of photosynthesis. But in the absence of the necessary conditions for the synthesis of organic substances, it becomes a heterotroph. It simply sucks the ready-made nutrients that are in the water.

With a lack of moisture, the cell dumps organelles of motion, and all processes of vital activity are suspended. So it tolerates unfavorable conditions of chlamydomonas.

Reproduction of algae occurs in different ways. Most often - asexual. In this case, the cell is modified. She drops the flagella, so the movement becomes impossible. Inside the cell, zoospores are formed. Their number can vary from 2 to 8. These are mobile cells. They leave the maternal body, grow and begin an independent existence. This process is very intensive - it is repeated every 24 hours. When conditions are unfavorable for the life of chlamydomonas, it goes on to sexual reproduction. At the same time gametes are formed inside it - the sex cells. They exit into the water, where they merge in pairs. As a result, zygotes are formed. In this state they are before the advent of favorable conditions. Then the zygotes divide, and each of them forms 4 adults.

The importance of chlamydomonas in nature and human life

This representative of green algae has long been the object of laboratory research. In nature, its significance is associated with the flowering of shallow standing water bodies. This process is especially active in autumn and spring. These are the periods of the greatest intensity of algae reproduction.

Being a unicellular microscopic creature, the green alga of chlamydomonas has a rather complex structure and processes of vital activity that make it possible to exist in an aquatic environment.